Atlanta vs Los Angeles

Atlanta is not Los Angeles and it never will be so
let’s just dive right
in.


Here’s what you need to understand about Atlanta as the new
  Hollywood:


1.     
It’s hot in Atlanta. And I’m not talking LA hot. When it’s
hot in Los Angeles, you can still blend your natural hair with your weave,
temperatures will drop at least 30 degrees by nightfall, and it never rains in
southern California. None of these events take place in Atlanta.


2.     
Los Angeles County is dedicated to healthy living, keeping the weight
off, and looking good. Finding clean food is easy. The sushi is affordable and
fresh during happy hour. And the weather is so good, that
‘summer weight loss’
effect is always on. Not in Atlanta. The people are real and are not geared for
the industry so they eat what they want. Good luck looking good on
camera!


3.     
Good indie work is hard to come by in Atlanta. In Los Angeles,
everybody is doing SOMETHING. There are no qualms about it. You can put together
a camera crew while waiting in a Starbucks line. In Atlanta, everybody
isn’t ALLLLLL about the industry and the people who are
creating projects independently don’t know you like that. I won’t dare say that Los Angeles is ‘friendly,’ but Atlanta isn’t
really full of southern hospitality either. The industry is the industry any way
you slice it.


There are things I like about Atlanta…


1.   
I was able to secure an agent very quickly. This may be because I came
with a reel and good headshots (both of which I brought from LA) but fair is
fair. AMT was excited about signing me. My agents are great and I trust them. So
there. LA agents have so much to choose from, you may never be chosen. And this
isn’t
coming from someone who was jaded and never chosen. I went through a few agents
in my five years in LA.


2.   
Atlanta is a very concentrated area. I don’t care about being a big fish in a small pond. I just
glad to be IN the pond. In LA a lot of us (who are EXTREMELY talented)
weren’t in the pond. We were cutting the grass around it FOR
FREE. I personally don’t
care where a project films. It all ends up on the same TV.


3.   
Everybody is not in the industry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You throw a rock
and hit an actor in LA. In Atlanta, they just think it’s cute that you’re still dreaming. I can live with that. There are some
  perpetrators out there but every city has those. It also makes it easy to have
  a life outside of the work. I haven’t been in Atlanta long, but I’ve
been able to achieve an amazing sense of balance here that I could never get my
hands on in LA. 

4.
It's waaaaay cheaper to live in Atlanta!


 At any rate, you decide what your experience is going to
be where ever you are. I can honestly say I gave Los Angeles every breath I had.
I also want to have a full life with a husband and children so I decided to work
smarter, not harder. Time is of the essence but to each his own. This journey
will probably lead me back to Los Angeles and I’m fine with that. But when I get back, I
won’t be on the train and doing free theatre. Take me to the
king!


Because so many people have asked me about my transition from LA to Atlanta, I decided to comprise this book. It's due in December 2014 via Amazon.com. 


XOXO Tiffany
Black

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